OCDetails Detailing Blog

Typically I'm closed for the season from November through about March, so I don't really get too many calls this time of year. One of my regulars referred his buddy who was trying to sell a motorcycle on Saturday. He was showing it to someone on Sunday, so I figured if I push this back too far then he may very well sell it before I get a chance to make it look as good as possible for the new owner, so I dropped what I was doing and made the appointment. I figured, it's just a motorcycle. How tough could it be? (famous last words)

Well, apparently he had left it in the sprinklers overnight and then put it away wet. Grrrrrr... Gotta love that... This is EXACTLY the reason my bike has very very little chrome on it. I could sit down and polish all the chrome on my bike with a tooth brush and be done in 30 minutes. This bike was another story though... Very little WASN'T chrome. Still, it is an awesome motorcycle and spots happen to all of us at some point or another, so it was time to get to work!

So here are some before shots. Not totally thrashed, but the chrome was pretty dull in some areas and all of it was spotted. The freaking wheels were ginormous! 300 series tire on the back with probably a 4 inch deep dish on both sides. They were huge! Huge and water stained.







The paint was in pretty good shape. The only real problem was where the seat connected to the fat rear fender.



It has a great pearl clear coat on it that I'm sure looks amazing in the sun. I'm just not a fan of yellow choppers or that style of graphic on them.



Not really too many action shots here since I was by myself in this warehouse polishing chrome, but I can say that it came out pretty good. I brought a whole bag of metal polish not knowing in advance how serious the spots were going to be. Ultimately I used Wolfgang Concours Aluminum Polish for most of it. The spots were coming off pretty easily with that and it really brightened up the chrome. The paint got Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish since it was in pretty good shape. Then I decided to see what a little Wolfgang Paint Sealant would look like if I topped it with Blackfire Midnight Sun paste wax. I didn't get to see it in the sun, so I'm just going off my belief that both of those products are outstanding by themselves, so layered they can only look even better. On a yellow with a pearl coat like this has, I'm sure it looked outstanding.

I finished off the chrome with Blackfire Metal Sealant just to help keep the spots from staining like that again and then cleaned and conditioned the seat with Pinnacle leather cleaner & conditioner. I was in and out in 3 hours flat, so that makes me happy. For once I actually estimated the time right. lol







It's tough to photograph chrome indoors. I tried it with a flash, without a flash, from a distance, up close... Anyway, it was shiny.

Obsessive Compulsive Detailing

I'm on Thumbtack now! Do you ever use that service? I've found it is a great way to find local tradesmen who can do for you that which you either don't have the time or skill for yourself.

There are a lot of detailers out there who are not very good at what they do. Plain and simple. I've spent over a decade making a name for myself in this area with my client circles and I know I'm a cut above the rest. Most guys look at it as a job that they have to go to. I look at it as a passion that I love to do! This isn't work for me and I love the opportunity I've had to work on some of the cars I've been able to work on. You can see some examples of that in the slide show below. I love what Thumbtack is providing to an industry like mine where people can look for competent and skilled laborers to provide unique and valuable services. Hopefully I'll be selected one or two times and increase my client base even further!